With Troy, Homer's Iliad is given the big-screen treatment. A tale of ancient Greece, where pride and factions have led to years of war between Agamemnon, king of Sparta and Priam, king of Troy. An uneasy peace has been forged which Agamemnon would like to upset. The chance comes when Priam's foolish younger son Paris (a suitably wet Orlando Bloom) steals the beautiful Helen, wife of Agamemnon's brother. So is launched a thousand ships - brought to life by the wonders of CGI. And so begins the war to end all wars. But wars need heroes, so step forward Achilles (Brad Pitt), champion of Sparta and Hector (Eric Bana), elder son of Priam.

Except there aren't really any heroes. The war happens because of selfishness - Agamemnon is ambitious for his own glory, Paris is weak and naïve, and Achilles is a fighting machine that has no regard for kings, gods or honour. This gives the film some complexity. Gone are the gods which play an active part in Homer's tale. What we get is a more modern take, where the heroes begin to doubt whether the gods are really there at all. Director Wolfgang Petersen to his credit sticks to the basic story and is keen to let character take as much of a centre stage as the spectacular scenery with which he fills the screen. Pitt is excellent as the brooding, unpredictable Achilles and has a powerful physique, which the camera loves. Eric Bana gives a smouldering performance as the defender of Troy, drawn reluctantly into a war he does not want. And there are excellent supporting turns from Sean Bean (Odysseus) and Peter O'Toole (Priam). Given the poetic origin of the story, though, it's a shame Petersen settled for such dull writing. James Horner's score is also a let down - and anyone leaving before the excruciatingly out of place song over the end credits will be doing themselves a favour.

As you might expect from Petersen, there is a lot of action. The massive battle-scenes go the way of Gladiator and the Lord of the Rings films, with jerky, quick-cutting camera-work, presumably to make us feel the disorientation of battle. But it's just plain disorientating. Better are the one-on-one fight scenes, especially the inevitable standoff between Pitt and Bana, which is brilliantly choreographed, edge of seat stuff. And, if seeing a scantily-clad, highly-toned Brad Pitt is your thing, then look no further.

Troy aims to be epic and its running time (146 minutes) certainly is. But epics that stand the test of time usually have strong scripts and stirring scores as well as top stars, sandals, and big scenery. For a film that has been 3000 years in the making, Troy is fun and very watchable; yet one can't help feeling a little disappointed.

Glenn Watson, 2.8.4